Startups announce layoffs amid chilly funding environment

March 28, 2016

Share:

Eric Migicovsky | Pebble CEO

As the flow of venture capital has decreased from a veritable fire hose to a more normalized stream, there has been much talk about how this will affect startups, even outside of those who are immediately in need of funding. Emails from investors advising their portfolio companies to buckle down, focus and drive aggressively toward profitability have circulated through the press, and it appears many founders have taken heed.

Just last week we saw two startups—on-demand shipping company Shyp and smart-watch maker Pebble—announce headcount cuts, with Pebble’s CEO directly calling out the less-than-ideal fundraising conditions in Silicon Valley. They join marketing platform Optimizely and speaker company Sonos, both of which also reported layoffs in the month of March. With no consensus on when VC will pick back up, be on the lookout for more news about startups having to downsize.